Commodore Kalianna Nicholotti / LtCmdr Colt Daniels - Twilight's Final Song

[Marissa Jeffrey]

((Bridge, USS Excalibur - A))

There was silence on the edge of the blade between life and death that no one really expected. Wrapping around the lost soul like a rain-soaked blanket, the sounds and chaos of the universe were muffled and the finality of the end was settled with whomever the debt was owed. To fight was to remain on the right side of the blade, but in the quiet that lay on the other side was a peace that no one really saw coming.

As the ship hurtled through the slipstream corridor towards the Alpha Isles, everything else seemed to melt away. The moment left the commodore with her thoughts, and once again she felt as if she stood on the precipice that spanned the distance between this realm and the next waiting only to take the step that would come with no returns. The prospect of what they would fly into on the other end of the corridor was grim, and though there was always that glimmer in the distance that was worth holding on to, she was finding it increasingly more difficult to commit to.

A glance around her reminded her of the crew that served aboard the Excalibur. In a slow, methodical manner she mentally read out their names one by one as if they had already been etched into the plaque that would honor their sacrifice. Each rang out in the echoing chasm of her mind just as it had when she'd called out the names of those who had gone down with the Resolution in the Excalibur's massive shuttlebay.

Each of the fourteen who had been lost had been committed to her memory. Would that be so with the hundreds of souls that were about to make their stand against one of the nastiest and strongest enemies yet?

Her crystalline eyes blinked for the first time in some minutes, causing them to water in the wake of the friction of the act. As they refocused, they once again found the swirling colors of the slipstream on the screen.

Nicholotti: Time.

Her voice was soft, but demanding. The answer was quick and apologetic.

Daniels: Current ETA... ::He checked the display on his armrest with an uncharacteristically grim expression:: 3 hours and 15 minutes.

That was too long. Her calm and in control features remained, though she was well aware that her first officer knew her well enough to see the frustration breaking against the dams of her mind. At the very fringe of her words, if one listened close enough, was a snarl that, in another place and time, might have been more than intimidating.

Nicholotti: By then there will be nothing left to save. Push harder.

The man in the chair next to her was one of her closest friends, and with a history as long as theirs, it made working together easy. Together, they provided a balanced command team that had led the Excalibur successfully for some years now. Kali couldn't have asked for a better send-off, and perhaps it would be for real this time, but she wasn't going to go without a good reason. They were going to get to Thirty-Three in time, or they were going to blow themselves apart trying.

Sweat had begun to bead at his hairline-- a small tell that betrayed the stress her usually unflappable XO was under. He too could read the writing on the wall.

Daniels: Slipstream drive is pegged at 110% of its rated max. We can push her to 120% but we'll be starin' down the barrel of full-refit level drive damage.

Nicholotti: Then make it 130%.

She turned her head and leveled her gaze at him. While the fires of determination burned hot within the crystalline blues, a shadow of pleading flashed behind the flames.

Nicholotti: None of this will matter if we get there too late.

He'd known the woman in the center chair too long to argue, even if he'd wanted to. The inferno of desperation that shone in her gaze left him with only a single option.

Daniels: I'm with you, Kali. ::He tapped the command in and confirmed.:: Slipstream drive now runnin' at 130% rated max.

Even without the gift of telepathy, Kali could feel the trepidation grow around her. Fear had a way of sinking into all the nooks and hidden places within the mind only to grow unproportionally out of control. In that moment, fear was growing, but thanks to the steadfast and upstanding nature of the officers around her, it was not taking over.

A quietude once again fell around her as the slipstream corridor seemed to shift ever so slightly on the screen and took on a more sickly color than before. She wasn't sure if it was an omen or something else, but she did her best to ignore everything save for the countdown to their arrival. While sooner than it had been, she had to wonder if it would be soon enough. 

Sitting back in her chair, Kali closed her eyes and let the ocean of emotions fall over her. In that moment she felt the chasm before her, and the edge of her toes against the edge of the rock. That which was, and that which was not to be called soundlessly from the dark. Her eyes searched in time, as she teetered on the blade in that unexpected silence.

Even as that silence roared around her, ushering them all towards the end.

TBC

--

Commodore Kalianna Nicholotti

Commanding Officer

USS Excalibur - A

R238605KN0

With special guest appearance by:

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Lt.Cmdr Colt Daniels

First Officer

USS Excalibur - A

As simmed by:

LtCmdr. Talos Dakora

First Officer
USS Artemis-A
O238811CD0